Giro d’Italia 2012: The Big Preview

The Giro d’Italia kicks off the Grand Tour season this Saturday and does so in Herning, Denmark, far away from its homeland.

Most of the favourites, including Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger, arrived yesterday on Ryanair flight 4722 from Bergamo. They travelled by bus across the Central Jutland Region to arrive in Herning, the northern-most start in Grand Tour history.

Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour de France winner, calls this area home. It’s barren, often cold and at this time of the year, light for half the day. It also hosts an 8.7km time trial and two road stages.

The TT will be a controlled event, suited to Geraint Thomas (Sky), but the other days will be open affairs. One only has to look to the wind and crashes that wreaked havoc on the opening Dutch stages of the Giro two years ago, when Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans both lost their race leads.

Italian journalists are already raising their voices. On TV, a journalist from Media Set said, “The pizza here is crap!” They dream of Verona, not only for its famous Bottega del Vino, but also for the return to the Giro’s homeland.

After a team time trial, the race shoots down the Adriatic coast towards its southern-most point in Campania. Over the first weekend, Basso and the others will face the first mountain stages, passi up to 1400 metres.

Mark Cavendish (Sky), Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and other sprinters will have their chances during this run and throughout the Giro. The two stages here in Denmark may end in a sprint, there’s the one after Verona in Fano, two up the west coast and two during the final mountainous run in the north.

The TT on Saturday, the Verona TTT and the second weekend’s mountain stages will make the first big sort-out in the general classification. The final week, though, will put a definitive spin on it.

At the Billund airport, an hour’s drive south, we asked Marco Pinotti (BMC) if he thought this year was a Giro Lite. He shook his head and said, “They’re all hard.” He noted the stage near his home to Pian dei Resinelli and the famous Alpe di Pampeago. “Pampeago is the only stage that’s truly over the top.”

From Treviso, where thieves took 185 frames from Pinarello’s warehouse on Tuesday night, the 19th stage covers the Passo Manghen, Passo Lavazè and Pampeago twice. That’s around 4,600 metres of climbing, which leaves little in the tank for the final mountain romp to Passo Stelvio.

The Stelvio stage, with the Mortirolo climb, will make the final big dents in the classification. The Milan TT the next day, the final day, will make the stylistic touch.

Light for half the day eh? You will find that only ever happens at the equinox (the clue is in the name) which was in March. Since then the days have been getting lighter, I am surprised that you have not noticed this. Perhaps you thought it was a phenomenon limited to the British Isles. Tomorrow the day will be Over 15 hours 38 minutes long in Copenhagen. That’s more like light two thirds of the day if we take the twilight into consideration.

No idea who will win, the problem with the Giro is that few of the GC riders seem to be bothered about trying to win it especially the non Italians. Beautiful race though.